In the 2008-09 season, Opta began recording the statistics of how many touches a team got in the opposition box in Premier League matches. In the 12 years since, teams have been dominated and starved of touches in that area. However, no team had ever managed to record a grand total of zero. Wednesday night approached, and Crystal Palace became the unfortunate record-breakers.
Palace came into Anfield boosted with confidence following a thumping win against Bournemouth on Saturday night, whilst Liverpool were frustrated at Goodison Park by local rivals Everton the following evening. The Eagles were playing to retain their position in the top half of the table, whilst Liverpool were seeking to take another step towards their first Premier League title.
A performance of champions
From the first whistle, it was clear to see the away side were in for a long night. It only took 15 minutes for Wilfred Zaha to walk off the pitch with yet another injury, meaning the South London side were stripped off their main attacking force. Christian Benteke and Vicente Guaita, two players integral to the relative success of Palace this season, were unavailable for the night too, meaning Roy Hodgson was now playing a much-weakened side against a ruthless Liverpool.
A ruthless goal opened the scoring too, with Trent Alexander-Arnold unleashing a curling free-kick into the Palace net, with Wayne Hennessey only able to admire the strike as it went past him. Mohamed Salah doubled his side's lead with a neat finish just before the half time interval, concluding 45 minutes of sheer home dominance.
The dominance continued into the second half, with ruthless once again being the only word that could describe the 3rd Liverpool goal, a 35-yard screamer from Fabinho. Sadio Mane joined the scoring act a quarter of an hour later following a quick counter-attack, before Jurgen Klopp took off his star men and brought on youth to play the game out, with Neco Williams making his Premier League debut as well as Harvey Elliot earning minutes.
The win meant that 23 points separate Liverpool with 2nd placed Manchester City, meaning their title would be secured should Pep Guardiola’s men gather anything but 3 points on Thursday evening. Should City beat Chelsea, Liverpool could secure the title at the Etihad Stadium on the 2nd of July.
Palace’s European dream still not over
The defeat means that Palace remain in 9th, however Arsenal and Burnley could leapfrog them should they secure wins on Thursday afternoon. Liverpool were certainly too much for the Eagles to cope with, but Hodgson’s men certainly will be switching their attention to the next game, a ‘six-pointer’ against Burnley on Monday in the search for Europa League football next season.